La Santa Trinidad

The "Holy Trinity" (from left to right): William Smith, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo

"La Santa Trinidad" or "The Holy Trinity" in English is a term used to collectively refer to three particular players in La Liga, the top flight of men's Spanish football, namely Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and William Smith. The term was first popularly used as a result of Smith's move to Atlético Madrid in 2010 which, coupled with Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Real Madrid in 2009 and the senior debut of Lionel Messi for FC Barcelona in 2004, led the Spanish media to begin using the term in reference to a state of a three-way contest between them whom each represent a major club in La Liga, namely Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid, and FC Barcelona.

After initially gaining much popular use beginning in the year 2010, the term continued to be used by both local and foreign media for the next five years up until Smith's departure from Atlético Madrid and subsequent retirement from professional football, during which, in a break from the traditional dominance of both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, Atlético Madrid won the La Liga thrice in a row, the Copa del Rey twice, the Supercopa de España four times in a row, and the UEFA Champions League five seasons in a row. Meanwhile, on the individual level, William Smith was named La Liga Best Player for four seasons in a row in addition to winning the Pichichi Trophy thrice in a row while Lionel Messi was named La Liga Best Player once and also won the Pichichi Trophy twice in a row whilst Cristiano Ronaldo was never named La Liga Best Player during the period but also won the Pichichi Trophy twice albeit not in a consecutive manner.

As of current, all three footballing stars have each departed La Liga and ultimately the European football scene altogether. Nonetheless, according to BBC Sport's Ralphie Hughes, the period itself "represented a rare and unique period of pure competitiveness that was almost never seen before with Atlético Madrid, traditionally the league underdogs, able to go toe-to-toe with the giants of Real Madrid and Barcelona on a regular basis". In hindsight, Atlético Madrid's unprecedented and record-breaking five UEFA Champions League title streak has been identified by many as the primary reason behind the lack of European silverware for former Barcelona star Neymar whose subsequent tenure with Paris Saint-Germain also failed to yield any European silverware with the closest being a semi-finals exit in the 2019-20 season of the UEFA Champions League where Paris Saint-Germain lost 2-4 on aggregate to Tottenham Hotspur under the management of William Smith who instead later oversaw a 2-1 win over Bayern Munich in the finals to claim The Lilywhites' first-ever European title.